Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez’s rivalry remains unsettled after years of back and forth. In May, Benavidez seeks a legacy-defining win up at cruiserweight against Gilberto Ramirez, and now Canelo’s trainer has revealed his prediction for the bout.
Benavidez was in hot pursuit of Canelo for a number of years, possessing the WBC Interim super-middleweight title but still unable to secure a shot at the then undisputed champion, until he was forced to move up to light-heavyweight.
At 175lbs, ‘The Mexican Monster’ has become the WBC light-heavyweight champion, but in six weeks’ time, he ventures up to cruiserweight to challenge ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez for the unified WBO and WBA marbles at 200lbs.
In an interview with K.O. Artist Sports, Eddy Reynoso, long-time trainer of Canelo, declared the fight as a close one, with the outcome hinging on which man makes fewer mistakes on the night.
“Zurdo is a fighter who works more with his footwork, controls distance, and is very strong. He throws combinations and has good defence.
“David is a great fighter who moves forward with a tight guard, throws strong combinations, and has a lot of speed.
“I think it’s a very evenly matched fight. Whoever performs better in the ring that night, whoever makes fewer mistakes, will win. It’s a very close fight in my opinion.”
Zurdo-Benavidez takes place on Saturday, May 2, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. As for Canelo, the four-division conqueror remains sidelined until September, when he will presumably seek to reclaim a super-middleweight world title after losing them to Terence Crawford last year.
